I gotcha. A bad call in the middle of the game, following a bunch of other bad calls, preceding a really big bad call, makes no difference. All things should be looked at on their own merits rather than as a trend that merely culminated in one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen in the World Cup. I mean, who could have expected such a bad call? We’d already forgotten the other 10 that came before it.
The ref in the Hand of God game is laughing at this guy right now.
The ref really wasn’t that bad, the yellow card call was wrong and from what we can see the disallowed goal was wrong but that was about all he get wrong. In football these things tend to work themselves out, you get the rough end of bad decisions in one game and get the benefit of them in another. Altidore certainly made the most of things and did all he could to convince the referee to give a free kick that led to the goal that never was.
I think that’s it. Another example is in 1954 when Switzerland were leading Austria 3-0 after 20 minutes. Austria eventually ran out 7-5 winners. That must have been some game! I can’t see any other examples.
Heh, I spent 10 mins looking up past results on wikipedia, which was much more enjoyable than this England v Algeria pish.
Fabio’s alehouse battlers 0- 0 Algeria HT
Desperate game really. Still, there’s Keegan’s halftime analysis to look forward to - Maybe he’ll put his finger on the subtleties of what is going wrong.
I must say, I normally pull for England above all other sides besides the US, but a draw here would be lovely on several levels. First, it would make England win in their next game in order to advance, and would also make sure a US victory against Algeria would put them in the next round.
It would also introduce the possibility of the US advancing with a draw.
I’m impressed with the Algerian team. Someone who knows absolutely nothing about the players on both countries might suspect that Algeria is the favorite to win the game.
I noticed that 10 of Algeria’s 11 starters were born in France. And they looked better in the 1st half than the French team has looked at any point in its two games.
To those who said England played poorly against the US - rubbish. This is what England look like when they are bad. I thought the US performance was something that could be built on. They pressed well and created plenty of chances. Today they just look tired and scared, the confidence they built up in the qualifiers seems to have completely evaporated. I almost feel sorry for the overpaid muppets.
Highlights of the half, the pigeon peacefully perched on the Algerian goal, in no danger of being disturbed, and Capello’s world-class gurning on the touchline.
Nah, I disagree - he was quite bad. Called things rather loose from the start (the opening elbow could have been a yellow on Dempsey) then starting flinging random cards around towards the end. He wasn’t necessarily biased (the rather large missed call against the US notwithstanding), just a bad ref or, more generously, a good ref having a bad game.
In particular he seemed to have no control over the grabbing in the box on free kicks (a bane in all matches, obviously, but as mentioned no fewer than three American players were bear-hugged on the kick with the disallowed goal).
After watching the replay a few dozen more times I actually think on the pivotal play he saw the grabbing and blew the whistle. Then the goal went in and he had to either call a foul on the Americans or give a penalty kick. He wasn’t confident on the PK call and probably assumed that there was something that could be construed as a US foul in the scrum in front of the net. It’s virtually impossible for one man to observe 10 athletic men wrestling for position and determine which, if any, actually fouled.
Continual gameflow? The flow stops once a minute from the ball going out of bounds.
Not speaking to the disallowed USA goal specifically, but a replay system could easily be worked out. Hockey does it, and it has every bit the “continual game flow” as soccer.
No, I saw the whole game, I just didn’t realize that Altidore had dived to draw the penalty until I saw the NY Times piece.
England are utter wank - Heskey is playing like a donkey, Carragher looks like he should have a zimmer frame and asthma medication, and Glen Johnson appears to have mistakenly put on concrete blocks instead of boots.
Frankly we don’t deserve to go through to the next round if this abject shower of shite is anything to go by.
Having said that, I think the Septics will struggle against Algeria - they should win but will be a tough game.
I guess it was actually a foul call, not an offsides call, but since the US never should have been awarded the free kick in the first place, it evens out.
:rolleyes:
The opening elbow could quite easily have been a red, USA got away with that big time and it more than cancels out the Findley yellow later in the game. He did start flashing the yellow cards around towards the end, all of them going to Slovenian players. On balance the referees missed calls evened themselves out with the exception of the disallowed goal and even in that case there is great doubt over whether it should have been a free kick in the place, two further reports in addition to the one already posted from NY Times:
I’m confused, you watched the game, but didn’t realize Altidore dove until someone told you he did? Did you not think it was a dive when you actually saw it? In my opinion, there was contact, and Altidore definitely embellished. But he didn’t dive.
So you’ve decided that since one guy says he dived that it must be true, despite many others claiming otherwise?
I’ve rewatched it. Altidore undoubtedly played it up, but the Slovenian stiff armed him in the collarbone, which is still illegal. That was two seconds after Altidore shook off the guy grabbing him from behind.
And yet, all three of them are playing better than Rooney.
That is my interpretation of events as well. Perhaps not a foul, but nothing outside of the norm, and not in the top-10 of worst calls by the ref in this game alone.
WTH is up with Rooney in this game? The other players mentioned (Carragher in particular) I knew were kind of shit, but Rooney is better than this…
I didn’t get a clear look at it when it happened live. I was wrangling a toddler at the time.
By the way, the US also got away with a really vicious elbow at the very beginning of the game, so there was “goonery” on both sides.
No, I’ve since watched the replay. He dove like Greg Louganis.
There was contact, but there’s always tons of contact. It’s like the holding that could technically be called on every play in American football, the little hooks in hockey, the scuffling and elbows in basketball, and the Americans got away with a much worse shot to a Slovenian player’s neck at the beginning of the match.